Nicole Kidman appears in the latest (Jan 23) print edtion of The Hollywood Reporter to promote Stoker and its upcoming Sundance premiere. This interview is actually kind of juicy and dovetails with the release of NYT writer Lawrence Wright’s Scientology exposé, Going Clear, which arrives in stores … tomorrow! If you’re interested in a preview, the Daily Beast is running 15 (mostly new) revelations from the book.

Nicole’s relevance to Wright’s book, of course, has to do with her 12-year-old divorce from Tom Cruise. According to well-documented sources, Celebrity Centre boss Tommy Davis (who has recently blown the cult, btw), held weekly, post-divorce sessions with Tom and Isabella Cruise. In these audits/information dumps/brainwashing sessions, Davis labelled Nicole a Suppressive Person and reportedly informed Nicole and Tom’s children that their mother was a sociopath who was not to be trusted. In this piece, Nicole finally says something about her estranged state with her eldest two children, and you can easily tell that she doesn’t blame them at all because she knows the drill. So sad. On a lighter note, she also discusses peeing on Zac Efron. Here are some excerpts:

Peeing on Zac Efron in The Paperboy: “I just don’t find urination shocking,” Kidman declares matter-of-factly. “I think I peed in the beginning of Eyes Wide Shut, too. But then, I don’t find a lot of things shocking! Violence is a lot more shocking than sex — sex is primal. Lee [Daniels, director of The Paperboy] had an obsession about shooting me from behind — he was obsessed with my ass! To me, that was so funny. He’s hilarious, I love him. I’m drawn to Lee for his wild nature. I felt shy singing in Moulin Rouge! But peeing — no, not shy.”

Journo mentions that her Cruise divorce happened because of CO$: “I’ll bet it is. My eye is going to a dress here — that’s how interested I am in this.” When pressed, she’ll say only: “I’ve chosen not to speak publicly about Scientology. I have two children [adopted with Cruise] who are Scientologists — Connor and Isabella — and I utterly respect their beliefs.”

On her recent career decisions: “I try to go places I’m terrified of,” she says. “It makes you more compassionate. The journey of life is hard; you’re always waiting for the cannonball to come and hit you. I do develop very powerful relationships with most of my directors,” admits Kidman. “Gus Van Sant changed my career with To Die For. I’ll definitely work with Lars von Trier again. And [The Hours director] Stephen Daldry is like a soulmate. He was so kind to me when I was pregnant, even when I couldn’t do The Reader. It’s not the size of the role I care about, it’s the subject matter here: torture and the human soul.”

She’s a traditional gal: “I’m just a nice Southern girl. It’s such an easy lifestyle. And it’s more diverse than you’d expect. There’s so much great music. The Black Keys go jogging past the restaurant Keith and I go to. We’ll hang out with Jack White in the studio. And there’s music in our house all the time — Keith plays harmonica, drums, banjo, piano and bass guitar. He has a strong will about his career, and so do I. We want each other to thrive and do what we love, and we never interfere in the other’s career choices.”

On the future: “I really want to do Chekhov in Russian. I know my choices are erratic and unpredictable, and there’s no rhyme or reason. I want to be spontaneous. I love subtext. Subtext is what’s interesting — in Ibsen, in Chekhov, in all the great literature. The sound of Russian gives it such gravitas. It’s a very difficult language. It’s always been my dream to perform Chekhov in Russian. And don’t be surprised when I do it.”

She wants to be an indie queen: “My heart is independent. I come from Australia, I was trained in indie movies. It’s an unconscious decision — it’s who I am. As an actor, you live and die by your choices. I don’t associate with mainstream films anymore. I don’t do so well in them, either. I guess I have a foot in both worlds. I’ve been offered some studio films this year and turned them down. They just didn’t align with who I am. I actually don’t even know what a movie star is now — what is a movie star? When the best female part of the year is Claire Danes in ‘Homeland,’ you know the game’s changed. Maybe in the ’50s, there was a far more particular idea for a movie star. But now that’s all blurry — everything’s more fluid.”

Oh, Nicole. I feel so much for her in regard to Isabella and Connor’s unfortunate rejection of her “suppressive person” self. Although the timing is strange with the reporter pushing for Nic’s response in regard to Scientology’s involvement in her divorce from Tom Cruise. It’s been over a decade since Tom tore up her contract, and certainly, her publicists have been very conscientious about shutting down potential inquiries until now. So what gives? I am assuming that the journalist was informed that he could ask questions about the CO$, but that Nicole might be dicey in response. I guess this is progress from her former radio silence, right? At least we now have concrete evidence (from her answers) that she feels quite abrasive about the cult despite paying positive lipservice to her estranged children.

Also, I can’t help but wonder if Nicole’s fresh embrace of indie movies might have something to do with her blockbuster-centered ex, Tom Cruise? He’d rather die than go indie. Then again, Nicole has had some really big recent studio failures, including The Golden Compass and The Invasion, the latter of which only brought in $15 million against a $80 million budget. Ouch.

Kidman married TOM, THE SCIENTOLOGIST for 10 years; has said her life was PERFECT with scientologist Tom; felt mad, passionate love for scientologist Tom; described scientologist Tom as being very kind to her; would go to the end of the earth for scientologist Tom; begged scientologist Tom not to leave her … If scientologist Tom is so b@tshit crazy, what does that tell you about Kidman?

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if Nicole did an honest interview and revealed the following:

1. My marriage to Cruise was not conventional. He required a public foil for his homosexuality and I am an extremely ambitious actress, who was offered and willingly accepted a contract, which gave me unprecedented exposure in hollywood and around the world.

2. Part of the reason my two eldest children have virtually nothing to do with me is because I was not a great mother. Funnily enough, Tom has much better parenting skills than me.

3. There was never a miscarriage with Cruise, because there was NEVER a sexual relationship. The false statement was issued as part of the divorce settlement, formulated to make the public believe that the male actor was both heterosexual and potent, neither of which is true.

4. Even though we divorced over 10 years ago, I continually mention Tom in interviews because I know his name will generate me publicity.

5. I am terrified of losing my looks and that is why I obsessively exercise and botox my face to eradicate any signs of ageing. Breast and cheek implants, skin bleaching, etc. I will do whatever it takes to remain desirable and relevant.

6. My life is far from perfect. My ambition is so overwhelming and in my desperation to remain in the public eye and make even more money, I work continually … consequently, there is very little time left over for my family.

7. I am not shy. Actually I am quite cunning, controlling and very high maintenance.

8. I have been deliberately misleading the public for years and I apologise.

I was certain that was a very old pic of her, and I was wondering why she ruined herself with PS. I wonder if it’s reverse Photoshop…?

Also, I bet she signed a 10-year confidentiality clause as part of the divorce and probably when the kids were younger she was very careful not to give the CO$ any evidence of her “suppressive personality.” Those kids are older now, and if the result of their conditioning is a total lack of critical thinking skills, there’s not much you can do about it at this point. It’s a shame, really. I sort of think she never sees them and they don’t really recognize her as their mother.

It’s been suggested that Scientology had some tapes of her that could be damaging and that’s why she never spoke out. If that is the case, it may be that she’s becoming more confident, although she’s still not ready to say anything specific that might cause release of the tapes.

Hmmm. I wonder if she is more confident about speaking out now because of the position Co$ is in. If Co$ were to leak information, it’d be easy to pinpoint the source, and just as easy to convince the public.

If Co$ is using their nonprofit status to call itself a “religion,” wouldn’t violating the confidentiality of their “parishioners” call all of that into question?

No matter how much I try to dislike this lady, I really can’t. She is a great actress. I watched the movie “Fur” a few nights ago with her and RDJ and it was freaky,sexual, weird, seductive and sick at the same time. Have you seen it; if not check it out.

The extraordinary and unique life of photographer Diane Arbus serves as the basis for this dull and uninventive drama. Kidman’s portrayal of Arbus was largely criticized and the film failed to find an audience.

Manohla Dargis of the New York Times wrote that Kidman’s “talent cannot obscure that she has been grievously miscast and left to indulge her mannered coyness.”

She has so much botox that it looks like shes had a stroke. The last picture shes trying to give some sort of facial expression and her face won’t budge. I feel for her regarding her kids. Its horrible that they have been lied to.

I interpret her comments as being more abrasive towards the media speculation surrounding Scientology’s role in her family’s dissolution than anything concrete about her opinion of the cult itself. Just sayin’.

Agree. I also don’t get the same impression that others do at all.. she seems just as mum about the church as she has in the past. Whether they have something on her, or for another reason, I don’t think we will be hearing any details from Nicole for a long time, if ever.

She is playing it pitch-perfect IMHO. If she ever hopes to have any kind of connection with those kids, she really has no other choice than to say she loves them and respects their beliefs. Alienating them will do nothing to improve the situation. All she can do is calmly put it out there that she respects and loves them. Maybe a miracle will happen and they will be able to reunite some day. I hope so. Connor seems to be working the Tom Jr angle, but there might be hope for Isabella.

When pressed, she’ll say only: “I’ve chosen not to speak publicly about Scientology. I have two children [adopted with Cruise] who are Scientologists — Connor [17] and Isabella [20] — and I utterly respect their beliefs.

When pressed, wouldn’t it be appropriate if she said “I’ve chosen not to speak publicly about Tom. He has a recently divorced ex-wife and a [6] year old daughter – and I utterly respect the upheaval and confusion his young daughter must be experiencing and it would be disgraceful of me to publicly draw attention to our past relationship, at this time.

A 6 year old child’s feelings, mean nothing to Kidman because she is so ruthlessly ambitious, self-centered and morally depraved. As long as Nicole has a film to promote, or there’s a quick dollar to be made, she will continue to drop the Cruise name to generate herself publicity.

The magazine photos are several years old – they were taken around the time of ‘Moulin Rouge’ – if you Google Image long enough, they eventually appear with their true chronology. The red carpet photos are recent. THAT’S what she actually looks like.

She was so gorgeous during the Moulin Rouge era, the movie, and months later promoting it. Her face was just breathtaking and the movment of her face. She has a mischevious way about her in real life. Such a beautiful smile and lips with a rosebud type shape (with a tiny bit of filler) They did so many closeups in Moulin Rouge, more than any movie I have ever seen, and she was perfection.

I have hated what she has done to her face these last few years. When she destroyed the shape of her lips by becoming huge pillow lips I was like, why? Australia I hated watching because of her lips and such.

Hemingway and Gelhorn on HBO she looked back to normal and very attractive for a woman in her forties.

I alternate between liking her and disliking her…but I like her in this interview…and the part where she paid for her own clothes. My heart breaks for her regarding her children….which leads back to my major complaint against Katie Holmes…how could you marry and have kids with someone who was so instrumental in driving his own kids away from their mother?

To Katies credit at least she got out before she was alienated from Suri. It seems Tom is an energy vampire and he has to take energy from others to recharge himself. These types, in order to secure their energy ‘supply’ are very charming when you first meet them – they are everything you want them to be – it is only when you are sucked into their web and are bonded to them that their true colours begin to show. I think Tom presented himself as Katies ultimate dreamboat at first then, once she got pregnant and was stuck, he showed his true self.

Asking how Katie could marry a man that alienated (no pun intended) his kids from their mother is like asking how she could marry a lunatic cult member. That question has been asked and answered over and over.

The answer is the same for both questions, she bought what Tom was selling for whatever reason… the love-bombing, her own vulnerabilities, the gradual and methodical indoctrination into the ‘church’, etc. How could she be sucked in to the whole thing without also believing whatever she was told about Nicole and her children (which I’m guessing was not the same version Nicole would tell.. if she ever spoke about it)? It was a package deal. She was emotionally manipulated into drinking the Kool-aid. In order to buy into any of it, she would have had to believe what she was being told (or not told) about all of it. Luckily she managed to find her way out though.

Oh please anybody with 2 working brain cells can tell that TC is a sick and disturbed individual, this guy was crazy before he got involved with CO$. All these women who got involved with Cruise like Kidman, Cruz or Holmes were either crazy themselves, terribly stupid or famewhores. Maybe a combination of all the three. If you get involved with a big Hollywood player there is always this aspect of “what do I get out of it?”

My guess is like myself Katie probably wonders what real mother would leave her kids behind? Tom probably told her Nicole wasn’t ready to be a mother and decided to leave the kids with him.

Its not that hard to believe especially given how little she talks about them or appears to care for that matter.

I never understood the pass Nicole got for ditching her kids if she wasn’t attached to them I could see why she found it easy to leave them behind but when you look at what Katie did to get Suri out of there the contrast is hard to miss…

KH only easily got Suri out of CO$ fangs because TC is not the biological father. I wonder how long it takes for all the sick stuff around those two and TC’s other relations comes out. These things don’t stay under cover forever.

Lovely photos for the magazine.
I too feel bad for her, but I think she’s handled it publicly as best she could. Hopefully someday the kids leave the cult and reconnect with her, but I bet they are treated like royalty because of Tom, so that might not happen.
I like her approach to her career too, she seems to want to be challenged and not just looking for a big paycheck.

It’s a poorly trimmed quote. The interviewer said something like, the press is saying that Scientology caused the breakup of your marriage to TC and she replied, I bet they are. And then changed the subject, clearly and purposefully.

My policy, as far as religion is concerned, is to each his own & I was raised to respect people of all religious faiths, however, when religion estranges family members I find that to be not only sad but unacceptable.

Who is the person in the photo spread? That’s not Nicole. She doesn’t look like that any more. She would have been gorgeous had she not done what ever it is she has done to her face.

Her big blockbuster movies have not fared well (How’d Australia do? I didn’t see it but I heard it was terrible) and that’s why I think she is gun shy about them. Failure on such a large scale with so many movies has got to hurt. I actually like the Golden Compass but Invasion was bad, I saw it on tv.

And what did she mean by “I’ll bet it is. My eye is going to a dress here — that’s how interested I am in this.” I get she she is deflecting and not answering the question but I don’t follow what she is saying, what dress?

I saw the article on a different site-it said that Nicole was flipping thru a magazine as she was being interviewed & when she was asked that particular question she was looking at a page w/ a dress on it & she deflected the question by referring to the dress on page as more interesting than the Scientology comment.

She’s always had an indie movie or small-budge movie heart as an actress. A good half of her movies are very small movies, very character-driven, many done at the height of her fame, and very unusual choices. It truly is and has always been where her interest lies. She did big budget movies also and many were hits like Cold Mountain, but not so much anymore.

And she is better suited in character driven pieces I think, right? She doesn’t translate well in over the top commercial things. I think she is a great actress. But there are the odd things. Remember that Chanel perfume add she did? It always cracks me up, ‘I’m a dancer, I lovveeee to dance’ wtf?

Yes, I prefer her indie movies. Anyone ever see Birthday girl? She had to learn to speak Russian for that roll so I guess that ties in with her desire to Chekhov in Russian. She was likable in that movie, even if her character was a little evil

“I come (came) from Australia, I was trained in (low budget) indie movies. It’s an unconscious (unavoidable) decision — it’s who I am (now forced to be). As an actor, you live and die by your (performances) choices. I don’t associate with (are no longer offered) mainstream films anymore. I don’t do so well in them, either (at last, some honesty!). I guess I have a foot in both worlds. I’ve been offered some (bit part) studio films this year and turned them down. They just didn’t align with who I am (a B-grade actress at best).”

She didn’t say she respects the cult, she said she respects her kids beliefs.
She’s leaving the door open for them to re-connect with her if they so wish.

I believe experts on cults would say that this is the best option when you have estranged family members still ‘in’.

And she had no chance against the cult all those years ago. If you read one of the many books about the cult, you’ll see it was a much, much more powerful organisation back then. It’s only in the last couple of years and through the power of the internet that it’s losing it’s grip. Thankfully.

Tom wasn’t in Scientology as heavy during their marriage, as that insider, Marty or the Village Voice, has said. In fact, totally out of Scientology the later years of their marriage due to Nicole’s influence on him. When they were divorcing, Scientology made their move and got back in tight with Tom again and infiltrated themselves in their divorce, but never the cause of their breakup.

She has adult children she loves and they have made their choices. To talk about it in a negative light would alienate her relationship with them. I get it. My friend’s brother belongs to a cult. He lives a normal life working, just is truly brainwashed by the cult. Once her parents tried to intercede (at the time they were taking care of their son’s disabled child), and her son and his wife retaliated by coming back and getting the child and cutting off all communication with them for five years. After much effort by the parents, they are in minimal contact. Very sad. Nicole isn’t going to risk that. Her kids are celebrity’s children and will be treated like such at Scientology, so at least no fear of SeaOrg and such.

I agree with your take on this. I think the comment about “utterly respecting” this wasn’t directed at Scientology but at her kids’ belief in Scientology. What else can she say, really, without further alienating them?

That is so sad about your friend’s brother Jayna. I hope some day he realises what is happening to him.

And yes, those who help de-program cult survivors say that the best thing to do in such a situation is to keep the contact lines always open. Then if the person ‘still in’ decides to leave, they know there is somewhere they can go.

Regarding her general career, Nicole has had very few box office successes. It is mystifying how she ever reached the $20M paycheck ranking when her box office has been so poor.

I will give her props for always trying new things and making smaller films that showcase her acting range.

As for her comments about abandoning blockbusters, that is something most actors should do because they tend to be one note. Not everyone can be Will Smith. Even Tom is struggling. Female actors in blockbusters tend to be restricted to ‘the girl’ roles. We need to get back to the age of great film making before blockbusters/George Lucas swallowed us whole.

I think she’s holding out hope that they’ll come back to her. I totally agree that she’s gotten on with her life, but I think she knows that there’s a pretty good chance at least one of them will wise up and get out of the cult. These past couple of years have been far from the status quo for Scientology and the kids are old enough to at least start to pick up on all of this. I mean, Katie Holmes, who they were encouraged to call “Mom,” and Tommy Davis, who was the one who brainwashed them against Nicole, have been wiped from their lives. My money is on Isabella leaving within the next few years.

She looks beautiful!!! I think she’s simply sick and tired of being asked about Scientology and some of the journalistic sensationalism surrounding TC’s divorce from KH. Plus she’s private regarding her relationship with her older children.

Idk…The CO$ certainly freaks me out but I read Andrew Morton’s book on Cruise a few years back and while totally not Camp Cruise, it did contain some very interesting information about Nicole herself. Most intersting to me was that Morton have several ppl on record saying that Tom decided almost completely on his own that he was going to go ahead with adopting both of their kids and that from day one it was agreed upon that they would really be “Tom’s children” and Nicole was sort of just along for the (temporary) ride. I don’t doubt that over time Nicole came to love and become attached to them-as any person with a heart would-and who knows if it’s entirely true. But when you take that into consideration with the fact that Nicole herself gave a interview a year or two ago to one of the major mags (I think it was Vogue?) stating that both Connor and Bella’s biological moms were Scientologists and that the adoption stories “were complicated” and that the truth “might be revealed someday” and I think Morton might have been spot-on. Why else would Nicole have just walked away overnight withought so much as a single public protest? I’m sorry, but I don’t know any mom, Scientology be damned, who would do that. I mean, look at Katie H.

I agree with you. I read that book, too, and while I feel for Nicole it did change my opinion of her quite a bit. I think she was more heartbroken about giving up her superstar wife status than giving up her children. She always said the divorce blindsided her and the book details her miscarriage etc during those times. I think that to be an actress you have to be quite self-absorbed and she and Tom were beyond self-absorbed. The phone convos that were recorded when they were fighting were just weird- she complained about him not sending flowers constantly anymore and paying too little attention to each other even though she took off to Australia for weeks and weeks while he was home with the kids. I feel for her because I am sure she signed a bunch of contracts that will forbid her to talk about Co$ in order for them not to release her tapes (probably talking about sex stuff, Co$ loves that). I always thought that she didn’t realize what she really gave up until she had biological kids. Hopefully they will find their way out of Co$ and she will be there for them when they do. Oh please- what am I saying- over Tiny Tom’s dead body.

I agree with you. And I think her relationship with Keith Urban may have made her a less self-absorbed, better all-around person. And maybe I’m being too optimistic here, but I think she might actually realize it, and appreciate it, and him. I think she truly admires his extreme talent and humility, and appreciates him being such a great dad. I did not sense that appreciation from her at the beginning of their relationship. JMHO.

How sad… Reading a bit about Sea Org (forced abortions, separated families) and the assistant Travolta had who had been forced to separate from her child… Maybe Isabella and Connor are children of people like that. How sad that they are replicating the life of their bio mothers and their Cruise father.
(And I still think Connor looks too much like his adoptive father)

Who knows? Purely speculating here, but Probably those kids, Connor and Isabella were given up in Adoption rightfully because they were given to high profile Cruise. No risks there
But… If there is truth in those forced abortion allegations, forced labour and families estranged and separated, why not think that some mothers within the cult have been convinced to dedicate their life to work for the greater good, for those “higher beings” and making sure the adoptive parents are co$ too. I just do not like this cult!
Notice how she said she respects her children’s religion? Not a word on her ex husband’s religion.

I think she and Keith are very happy with each other and their life now, and I am happy for her. Maybe she figures if she just stays mum on COS, and remains supportive of her two older kids, they will see the light one day and come around at some point. Katie hitting the road might have even caused them to start thinking about re-thinking whatever they’ve been “told” about Nicole? It might be difficult to keep her mouth shut on the subject, but it’s probably the best decision.

I agree that this is Nicole’s way of keeping the peace between both parties and holding out hope one day that they come back to her which I hope they do. Didnt she say her door is always open for them? Even though she might not address them in her interviews often etc doesn’t mean she doesn’t love them or think about them. x

is it just me or does it seem like there were a few odd anti Nicole comments on here? i’m not saying everyone has to like her, but the comments just seem odd. odd as in they seemed like they could be coming from Scientologists

Isabella is in contact with her mother. A year or so ago she was papped visiting in Europe and she said they talked on the phone. When the kids were younger, they did have long visits with their mom. Maybe that stopped at one point (can’t force kids to visit a parent after a certain age) but definitely Kidman did not have no contact as people seem to assume. I can see how she could be convinced that the kids would have a more stable life with Tom, without predicting the systematic alienation that would follow. Co$ wasn’t really a big part of Tom’s life while they were married.

She’s probably lost Conner, though- he’s enjoying being the heir apparent. Isabella doesn’t look as happy, so maybe she has a chance of breaking with the cult. She had a lot of contact with Katie at home and work, so she must be feeling some disconnect between Co$ spin and what she knows personally. Both kids are seriously undereducated, though, meaning that their options outside Co$ and without their father’s pull may be limited.